HOUSTON – Puff, poof, gone.
Many vapes have vanished from store shelves across Texas.
Clouds of confusion are hanging over smoke shops as a new law has made entire product lines disappear almost overnight.
Okay, enough puns. But the problem is very real for customers and business owners.
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Oscar Gomez, manager of 1 Stop Smoke Shop in Houston, said the impact has been immediate.
“There it says: Made In China,” Gomez said, pointing to one of the products now illegal in Texas. “Not just on this one, all of them are made in China.”
Under the new law, all vapes made in China and other countries considered “adversary nations” are now illegal to sell in Texas.
Vapes and e-cigarettes made in the U.S. are still allowed, along with e-liquids manufactured domestically.
Banned items also include vapes containing cannabis, alcohol, kratom, kava, mushrooms, or any derivatives of those substances, regardless of where they are made.
A new Texas law bans a wide variety of vapes from being sold in the Lone Star State. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)
Products that resemble toys or are marketed to minors are also prohibited.
Gomez said the law has forced many shops to dispose of their remaining inventory.
“Obviously hurting our shop, hurting our business and can’t do nothing about it, it’s already done,” he said as staff opened a black trash bag to toss away now-banned products.
Customers visiting smoke shops in Houston are feeling the effect.
Of nearly a dozen people who came in and out of Gomez’s shop Monday afternoon, all but one left empty-handed.
Walki Hernandez, a Houston resident, said he was looking for a mint-flavored vape.
“Vape with mint flavor,” Hernandez said.
But Gomez had already pulled those products from the shelves.
Penalties for selling banned vapes include fines of up to $4,000 and even up to a year in jail, according to the new law.
Hernandez said he plans to check other stores but isn’t interested in traditional cigarettes.
“First, look and try to find it in other store, I don’t know, but if I can find it, just nothing, but I don’t like cigarettes, regular cigarettes, I don’t like [them],” Hernandez said. “If I can’t find it, just, I don’t smoke.”
For some, the new law could encourage a healthier lifestyle.
For smoke shops, however, the restrictions threaten their very survival.
Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.